The Winnipeg Jets visit the Minnesota Wild tonight for their first of two games in as many nights…The Jets won for the third time in their past four games with a 7-4 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night…Winnipeg plays the back half of the back-to-back tomorrow night at Bell MTS Place against the Detroit Red Wings.
Outburst Continues
The Jets have scored five goals or more in back-to-back games for the first
time since Dec. 11-13…Winnipeg has scored five goals or more in 15 games this
season (15-0-0), which is tied for second in the NHL.
Power Play Clicks
After going 1-for-15 (6.7%) on the power play in seven games from Dec. 18-Jan.
4, the Jets are 4-for-8 on the power play in their past two games…While the
Jets lead the NHL in home power play percentage at 38.2%, Winnipeg is 12-for-61
(19.7%) on the power play in road games this season and are 0-for-11 in their
past five road games.
On the Road Again
The Jets are 12-7-0 on the road this season, but had their three-game road
winning streak end in Pittsburgh last Friday…Winnipeg has won eight of their
past 10 games away from Bell MTS Place…Winnipeg matched a franchise record with
a five-game road winning streak from Nov. 24-Dec. 14…Blake Wheeler (3G, 19A)
leads the Jets in scoring on the road with 22 points in 19 games.
Busy Time
The Jets are in the midst of nine games (2-1-0) in 16 days leading into the
player and all-star break from Jan. 20-27…After the all-star break, the Jets
also have a busy schedule with 11 games in 20 days.
Against the Central
Winnipeg is in a stretch of five of eight games against Central Division teams…The
Jets are 9-5-0 against Central Division teams this season…Since the start of
the 2016-17 season, the Jets are 43-22-4 against Central Division teams, which
is first in the NHL…In that same time frame, Blake Wheeler leads all NHLers in
scoring against the Central Division with 91 points (27G, 64A) in 69 games,
while Mark Scheifele is second with 83 points (33G, 50A) in 61 games.
Period by Period
The Jets scored twice in the first period on Tuesday against Colorado, which was
the first time in seven games Winnipeg scored in the first period…The first
period has been the least productive offensively for the Jets this season with
40 goals, compared to 43 goals in the second period and 57 goals in the third
period…The Jets have a positive goal differential in each period this season (1st
– 3; 2nd – 6; 3rd – 13)…Winnipeg has scored three
third-period goals in each of their last two games.
Back-2-Back
Tonight and Tomorrow mark the sixth of 10 back-to-back sets the Jets have this season…Winnipeg is 4-1-0 in the first game and 3-2-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season…Last season, the Jets went 4-3-2 in the first game of nine back-to-backs and 4-4-1 in the second game.
Multiple Contributors
The Jets have scored 12 goals in their past two games by 10 different players…Only
Kyle Connor and Bryan Little have scored in both games…Connor has goals in
back-to-back games after going 10 games without a goal, while Little has scored
in consecutive games for the first time this season…The two goals ended an
11-game goalless drought for Little.
Point Night
Blake Wheeler had four points (1G, 3A) on Tuesday for his second game this season
with four points or more and 14th multi-point game…Mark Scheifele
had a goal and two assists for his team-leading 15th multi-point
game of the season…Defenceman Jacob Trouba matched a season-high with three points
(1G, 2A), while Tyler Myers had two assists.
Workhorse
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has started all six games the Jets have played
since the Christmas break, which has matched his longest streak of consecutive starts
this season…He’s also played nine of Winnipeg’s last 10 games.
Seeing Stars
The NHL announced the rosters for the 2019 NHL
All-Star Game last week and Jets forwards Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele were
selected to the Central Division team…Wheeler, who is making his second
consecutive all-star appearance, leads the Jets in points (55) and also leads
the Jets and ranks second in the NHL in assists (48)…Scheifele is making his
first all-star appearance and is second on the Jets in points (53), goals (23),
and assists (30)…He is also in the top 15 in the NHL in goals and points…Forward
Patrik Laine is on the Last Man In ballot, as fans vote on the final member of
each all-star team…The NHL announced on Saturday that head coach Paul Maurice has
been selected as the head coach of the Central Division team, based on the Jets
being in first place in the Central Division at the midway point of the season.
Jets vs. Wild All-Time Records
Overall: 17-18-3
At Bell MTS Place: 8-4-1
At Xcel Energy Center: 7-10-2
2018-19 Jets Gamelog vs. Wild
| Date | Location | Score | Rec | Scorers | Goaltender |
| Nov. 23 | Minnesota | 4-2 L | 0-1-0 (12-7-2) | Laine (14), Ehlers (6) | Hellebuyck (35 sv, 3 ga) |
| Dec. 29 | Winnipeg | 3-1 L | 0-2-0 (24-12-2) | Laine (24) | Hellebuyck (22 sv, 2 ga) |
| Jan. 10 | Minnesota | ||||
| Feb. 26 | Winnipeg | ||||
| Apr. 2 | Minnesota |
Jets vs. Wild Series Notes
- Including the playoffs, the Jets won seven of their nine games against the Wild last season, but have lost the first two games against Minnesota this season.
- Winnipeg is 14-12-2 during the regular season when facing Minnesota since moving to Manitoba in 2011.
- The Jets are 8-for-23 (34.8%) on the power play in their past seven regular season games against the Wild and have at least one power play goal in six of the seven games.
- Dustin Byfuglien leads all Minnesotans in career scoring against the Wild with 33 points (8G, 25A) in 41 games, while Blake Wheeler is second with 27 points (11G, 16A) in 32 games.
- Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler each have four career game-winning goals against the Wild.
Jets-Wild Connections
- Blake Wheeler is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
- Wild forward Matt Hendricks played with the Jets last season.
- Wild forward Eric Fehr played with the Jets during the 2011-12 season.
- Wheeler and the Wild’s Ryan Suter and Zach Parise competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as teammates representing USA, while Wheeler and Byfuglien played alongside Parise and Suter at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
- Patrik Laine suited up for Finland at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with the Wild’s Mikko Koivu, and Granlund.
- During his tenure as the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, Paul Maurice coached the Wild’s Eric Staal from 2003-04 and 2008-2012.
- Mathieu Perreault played under Wild’s head coach Bruce Boudreau during his time with the Washington Capitals from 2009-2012.
- Tyler Myers played with Wild forward Marcus Foligno from 2011-2015 with the Buffalo Sabres.
- Mark Scheifele played with Wild defenceman Matt Dumba at the 2016 IIHF World Championship for Team Canada.
- Connor Hellebuyck played with Wild forward Charlie Coyle for Team USA at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.
Upcoming Milestones
Dustin Byfuglien
- Needs one more game played to reach 600 as a member of the Jets franchise.
- Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.
Kyle Connor
- Needs eight points to reach 100 for his NHL career.
Nikolaj Ehlers
- Needs two penalty minutes to reach 100 for his career.
Patrik Laine
- Needs three games to reach 200 for his NHL career.
Bryan Little
- Needs two points to reach 500 for his NHL career.
- Needs nine assists to reach 300 for his NHL career.
- Needs four games to reached 800 for his NHL career.
Tyler Myers
- Needs five points to reach 100 as a member of the Jets.
Blake Wheeler
- Needs one game played to reach 600 as a member of the Jets franchise.
- Needs one multi-goal game to pass Marian Hossa and take sole possession of third in multi-goal games in franchise history. They are both currently at 21.
- Needs one shorthanded assist to tie Marty Reasoner and Patrik Stefan (7) for the second-most shorthanded assists in franchise history.